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"I (and many others whom I respect) simply had the Reds charted to go in a certain direction with this draft, and they went with the complete opposite end of the spectrum on almost every pick. "

What direction did you want the Reds to go with this draft? With mostly big, strong college pitchers drafted plus a highly regarded HS pitcher as #1, a 3rd baseman with potential, and always a few catchers, it looks as if it fit the model of where we want to be in 3-5 years. Your direction is what?

". . . acquiring J. Blanton from Oakland for, apparently, Bailey/Cueto, Votto and a lesser prospect. I do it in a second . . . The Reds' equation this year is simple: Make Matt Belisle your #3 starter . . . trade for Blanton, win 85 or more, be in the mix all summer." - Paul Daugherty, Feb. 8, 2008

Dog - Can't speak for Stormy, but personally, I'd liked to have seen a little more middle infield talent drafted. And with the high picks, I'd have taken pitchers with either unbelievable ceilings or guys with lots of polish who might be ready to debut in GAB 2 years from now.

I'm with M2 on Votto - I just don't get that pick at all. At the ML level, the Reds have LaRue, Miller, and Stinnett. Sardinha is on the 40 man, and last year they took a catcher out of Georgia Tech with a relatively high pick. Unless Votto is a major talent, I don't see taking him in the 2nd round. A later round, sure. But not the 2nd round.

Of course, I'm hoping that every single draft pick proves me wrong and they all turn out to be bona fide prospects & major leaguers.

but no bio</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Northwestern State University senior OJ King has been voted pitcher of
the year after leading his Demons to a regular-season co-championship.
His 2.11 earned run average is tops in the Southland and he possesses an
8-2 record in 13 starts heading into the postseason. King is one of three
pitchers named first-team All-Conference.

my take on middle infield is this: the reds have drafted INFs high the previous two years to last year. There are a lot of good glove INFs available (Reese ring a bell) but how many can hit with a wooden bat. These guys are more easily acquirable than good pitching (Alomar). The board complains about drafting college pitchers and when the Reds do, people do not like who they selected. Looking at their physical characteristics and speed, the Reds appear to have drafted strong, solidly-built pitchers who have less likelyhood to breakdown (ala Bankhead, williamson, wagner, etc)

Maybe Schramek and Edens indicates the Reds are trying to groom a new closer with a power arm to succeed Graves in a couple of years. Schramek could be an attempt at the next Trevor Hoffman, an infield convert.

". . . acquiring J. Blanton from Oakland for, apparently, Bailey/Cueto, Votto and a lesser prospect. I do it in a second . . . The Reds' equation this year is simple: Make Matt Belisle your #3 starter . . . trade for Blanton, win 85 or more, be in the mix all summer." - Paul Daugherty, Feb. 8, 2008

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by RedDog:
<strong>
What direction did you want the Reds to go with this draft? With mostly big, strong college pitchers drafted plus a highly regarded HS pitcher as #1, a 3rd baseman with potential, and always a few catchers, it looks as if it fit the model of where we want to be in 3-5 years. Your direction is what?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I don't mean to be offensive, but are we following the same draft? We've drafted mostly big, strong college pitchers in the top 10 picks???

You have to go to the 75th pick of the draft to find our first college pitcher and he is a 5'10" guy whom almost everyone projects as destined for the bullpen. We folow that by going with another HS arm, a 1B and a 3B, before we find our next *college* pitcher at pick 195 and again he is a closer type with a 6'0" frame. Is that your draft full of big, strong college arms? Perhaps you are alluding to our 2nd pick whom we spent on a guy most teams were projecting as a top 200 3B which we jumped to grab at #40, possibly with the intent of using him as a pitcher??

The big, strong college arms you insist this draft is full of do not exist in the early rounds (though they do follow some in the later rounds). There is no question that orthodox/conventional wisdom says that we did some serious reaching with 3 of our first 5 picks. There are no picks designed with an eye towards selecting compelling talents at key positions. Our #1 pick is spent on a HS arm (the lesser of the 2 at that) and we all know the percentage of those which workout successfully. We obviously chose numerous players more in regards to them taking slot money, than on their talent level. And the organizations biggest weakness outside of SP, which is SS/2B went untouched.

I guess that is how we see this differently, without getting into the details of why the Reds bypassed specific players in certain situations in an almost inexplicable manner.

". . . acquiring J. Blanton from Oakland for, apparently, Bailey/Cueto, Votto and a lesser prospect. I do it in a second . . . The Reds' equation this year is simple: Make Matt Belisle your #3 starter . . . trade for Blanton, win 85 or more, be in the mix all summer." - Paul Daugherty, Feb. 8, 2008

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